Good morning.
A splurge on food and drinks over the Platinum Jubilee weekend has didn’t elevate retail gross sales as client spending remained subdued amid hovering inflation.
Retail gross sales fell 0.1pc in June, in line with the ONS. That is forward of Might’s 0.8pc decline and higher than feared, nevertheless it nonetheless factors to a worrying image of the financial system.
Meals gross sales jumped 3.1pc because of the royal festivities. However this masked a 4.3pc droop in gasoline gross sales as pump costs soared to report highs, whereas different sectors additionally declined.
In the meantime, GfK’s newest client confidence survey remained at a 48-year low as hovering meals and gasoline costs left customers feeling “severely depressed”.
5 issues to start out your day
1) Why the top of the ECB’s disastrous destructive charges experiment gained’t save Europe Lagarde’s milestone charge reversal does little to quell fears of a protracted disaster
2) Tata threatens to close Port Talbot metal works Firm calls for £1.5bn lifeline from taxpayer subsidy to maintain website open
3) Report into bungled SFO Unaoil bribery investigation lets chief off the hook Embattled director Lisa Osofsky vows to remain put and implement suggestions
4) Prime Tory donor assaults Rishi Sunak’s ‘ridiculous’ tax plans Sir Rocco Forte’s name for tax cuts is echoed by enterprise leaders and economists
5) Why Thatcher’s tax cuts are so exhausting to repeat Expertise around the globe exhibits slashing taxes helps increase development
What occurred in a single day
Asian inventory markets had been on track for his or her finest week in months and the greenback held off current report highs after the European Central Financial institution raised charges for the primary time in additional than a decade and bets on the dimensions of US charge hikes eased.
Japan’s Nikkei rose 0.2pc this morning and was on track to make good points for a seventh successive day. It is prone to be the index’s finest week since March.
MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares exterior Japan slipped 0.03pc, however the index continues to be set for its finest week in about two months.
Hong Kong’s Grasp Seng index was up 0.1pc.
Developing right this moment
- Economics: Providers PMI (UK, US, EU), manufacturing PMI (UK, US, EU), composite PMI (UK, US, EU), retail gross sales (UK)
- Company: Beazley (interims); JTC (buying and selling replace)
